Question

Give me a short summary on novel the merchant of venice by william shakespeare

Answer 1

A fortuneless nobleman, Bassanio, asks for a loan from the merchant Antonio so that he can pursue Portia, a wealthy heiress, in order to restore his fortune. Since the merchant has all his assets tied up with ships that at sea, he tells Bassanio he will use his credit to obtain a loan from the Jew Shylock.  Because Shylock fiercely hates Antonio, he latches on to the opportunity to get revenge; he agrees to loan Antonio the money. But, if Antonio does not repay this loan, Shylock will get a pound of flesh as payment from him.

With the money he needs, Bassanio pursues Portia, and he selects the casket (small box) that allows him to marry her. But, in the meantime, Shylock's daughter runs off with a Christian, converts, and steals her late mothers jewels. The avaricious and offended Shylock is enraged by this; he vows to exact the flesh from Antonio, who is unable to pay the loan because his ships are lost at sea. When Portia learns from Bassanio of Antonio's plight, she disguises herself as a doctor of law and, with her servant Nerissa dressed as a law clerk, Portia appears at court on Antonio's behalf where Shylock demands of the Duke, 

I have possessed your grace of what I purpose
And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn
To have the due and forfeit of my bond" (4.1.34-36).

Portia's speech before the court is clearly a statement of theme for this drama:

The quality of mercy is not strain'd;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown. (4.1.186-192)

While it seems that Portia goes along with the sentencing, when Shylock takes steps to cut off his pound of flesh, Portia/the doctor of law points out that there was no provision in the conditions for Antonio's blood, so Shylock can only have flesh--no blood. Defeated, Shylock is further humiliated as he is made to convert to Christianity. Antonio's ships finally arrive and the lovers, Bassanio and Portia, are married.

Answer 2

Answer:

Summary of Merchant of Venice

William Shakespeare's, Merchant of Venice presents Shylock, the Jewish money lender as the villain of the play. Shylock cunningly coaxed Antonio to add the words "a pound of flesh" in the bond as one of the conditions if Antonio failed to repay the loan in time.

Antonio is a business rival to Shylock. Antonio charges minimum interest and this was harming the money lending business of Shylock. He, therefore wants to ruin Antonio. Shylock charges exorbitant rate of interest which people think as immoral.

Jessica, the only daughter of Shylock, knew all about her father and is ashamed of him. She confesses that she is his daughter by blood, and not by actions. She hopes to escape her relationship with her father by marrying Lorenzo.

Bassanio is in love with Portia the heiress of Belmont but she has other richer suitors. He needs money to compete with them in order to win the hand of Portia. Antonio told him that all his money was tied up in his business but that he will be the guarantor for any loan that he can get.

Shylock demands the right to cut a pound of flesh from Antonio's body for not repaying the loan in the fixed time. The duke appeals to Shylock to show compassion to Antonio but Shylock refused to show Antonio any mercy. In his eagerness to take the life of Antonio, he even brought his knife to the court.

Shylock was unpopular with other people who accused him of practising his money lending business with outrageously high rates of interest. The merchants, such as Antonio, too cannot stand Shylock because they believed his way of making money was unacceptable.

In the climactic court scene Shylock and Antonio confront one another. During the trial, Portia explained the value of mercy. She said that when mercy is unreservedly dispensed, it becomes the throned monarch better than his crown, it is an attribute of God himself. But it makes no difference to Shylock. Portia uses her logic and clever wit. She agrees with Shylock that the bond is binding and cannot be broken. But she points out that while the bond allows for a pound of flesh, it does not allow for the shedding of blood. Shylock losses the case because it is impossible for him to cut a pound of flesh without shedding blood. According to the law, his property would be confiscated and divided equally between the city of Venice and Antonio. The Duke spares his life, an act of mercy Shylock refused to give to Antonio. The play ends on a happy note with the ship's of Antonio arriving safely and Bassanio marrying Portia.